This invention relates to apparatus for separating or classifying the contents of a flowing slurry. Embodiments feature a compact structure having a low profile and requiring a minimal head in delivery of the slurry for a fast and effective separating operation. They have a wide variety of application in agriculture, pulp and paper processing, sewage and waste water treatment, clarifying and like procedures.
Static screens such as provided by the present invention are highly desirable for use in industrial, agricultural and other processing applications because they are inherently cheaper to fabricate and easier to maintain. However, they have had limited application due to their heretofore relatively low efficiency and their basic blinding problems. Substantial advance in the efficiency and effectiveness of static screens was achieved in the development of the "Hydrasieve" screen, the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,876, which screen substantially expanded commercial use of static screens. While this new development has been very important, there still remain situations and applications requiring lower cost units of this category and units which have added capabilities such as evidenced in various separating equipment of the prior art which embody shaking or vibrating components. General usage in industry has proven the significant advantage of embodiments of the invention in handling low consistency slurries embodying particularly fibrous and adherent solid particles. The present invention has also proven to be effective, in the embodiment thereof, to carry forward and render desirable the use of static screens for even such difficult applications as require the handling of slurries embodying particularly sticky and adherent solid particles or having relatively sluggish consistency.